Hindsight
by Noviu
Summary: They say hindsight is 20/20 but why is it that you always have to look back to know you were headed down the wrong track? Clarke is beginning to see she isn't as good a judge of character as she originally thought. Follows cannon through episode 5. (Bellark- Octavia and Lincoln)
1. Chapter 1

Clarke commanded her body to be still. She slowed her breathing as much as her frantic mind would allow. She could tell by the sounds in the woods that she had separated herself too far from the others. When the grounders had attacked, everyone scattered. This part of the woods was unfamiliar so she had just ran as far and as fast as she could.

It was sheer luck that kept her from being impaled by the grounder trap. She was just short enough to be able to duck away from the brunt of it. Still, she had been hit pretty hard on the head. Her hope was the grounder that had been in pursuit of her would have seen the hit and her very real fall and decide to move on.

Then again, the grounders did have that odd habit of injuring then kidnapping their new neighbors. Clarke was trying to think of a better plan than just lying there but her mind felt fuzzy. She couldn't quite seem to finish her thoughts. The world seemed to fade away until suddenly someone was talking to her, lifting her.

"You went the wrong way princess!"

Finn? No this person sounded too gruff and angry. She felt her body be pulled away from the sprung trap, then her head swam again and she felt wet, rough bark against her back.

"All though almost everyone else who ran into a trap didn't fare so well."

"Bellamy?" He was surrounded by gray and had spots all over his face, but it was definitely him.

He reached out with something and whatever it was sent blinding pain through her body.

Alarmed he immediately pulled back a blood stained cloth. That shouldn't have hurt so much right? He must be doing something wrong. Bellamy looked around again to see who else could help. Once again he saw no one near by. This one is all on him and he'd be damned if he gave her an excuse to call him a coward! He reached forward but Clarke avoided his hands.

"Hold still, let me look at it!"

"No, I'm fine! I just need to lay down for a minute."

"Right, let the girl with a concussion take another nap!" His look said he thought she was stupid.

Clarke fixed him with the best glare she could muster.

Bellamy released a frustrated sigh, but then his eyes were drawn back to the bloody mess of blonde curls. He willed his hands not to shake as he pushed her hair back and saw the extent of the damage. Luckily her eyes were too glazed over to detect how squeamish he was.

"You have something in the wound. Metal maybe, I can't tell." He squatted down, resting on his ankles to try and get a better look.

"How big?" Her voice sounded far away and frightened.

"Like a large splinter." He said gently.

Clarke willed her voice to be strong this time. She hated how weak this was making her look. But her head hurt! "Can you take it out?"

Bellamy heard the change in her voice and it had just enough steel in it to get his own hands moving. He pinched the object between his first two fingers and thumb. He wanted to pull quickly before his stomach could turn but feared that might risk part of the object breaking off inside her skin. Slowly, smoothly he pulled. He felt Carke's hands on his knees in a death grip. Once it was out, his other hand quickly brought the cloth down to stop the new outpouring of blood.

He was still applying pressure when someone else finally showed up.

Finn had sped up his pace the second he had seen that it was Clarke Bellamy had been tending to. He actually looked as though he was being careful? One hand was holding her neck, supporting the back of her head as the other hand pressed down on a cloth a few inches above her right eye. Her hands were braced on his knees.

They looked oddly intimate. Finn didn't realize he had stopped running until Raven bumped his shoulder with hers and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing." _Except why is Bellamy taking care of her?_ "Do you see Clarke's pack?"

Raven looked around and quickly spotted the back pack. Remembering her first encounter with the other girl, she rummaged through the pack and passed some badges to Bellamy. He switched out the soaked cloth for the thicker fabric and moved Clarke's hands up to hold it in place. He made sure she was steady before standing and turning towards Finn.

"I found her here unconscious, she's been bleeding from a wound on her head, but it doesn't look too deep."

"I was unconscious?"

Bellamy turned back to Clarke and bent to one knee. "Yeah, out like a light. I finally had my shot to do what I wanted to you."

Clarke's vision had finally cleared enough that she could see the wide smirk on Bellamy's face. He was making light of the care he had shown for her. Clarke looked past his shoulder and saw the dark look of concern on Finn's face. He didn't get the joke.

Clark then slid her eyes to Raven and decided she had no time or patience for Finn or his protectiveness. Time to bypass both the boys all together. "Raven, help me walk?"

Raven put her head and shoulders under Clarke's arm and slowly lifted them both to an upright position. Clarke pretended not to notice Bellamy's support at her other elbow.

He eyed both girls warily and then turned back to Finn. "Is it safe to walk back towards camp?"

"Yes, it looks like all the grounders have gone back to the eastern ridge."

"Good, take me to get that seaweed and other stuff you got before. We are going to need it". Then he turned to Raven "You two go back to camp" His tone did not invite any protests from the girls.

Finn seemed ready to argue but Clarke wasn't ready to accept his help. "I'm fine. Raven can help me. It is better that you two go to the lake anyway."

Both boys gave her a once over before squaring shoulders or clenching a jaw and walking away.

It was a long walk back to camp for the ladies on their own. Raven must have sensed Clarke's fading consciousness because she filled the silence with a lively account of everything that happened while Clarke had been out.

"Then after all that, just as fast as they came, they were gone. Bellamy ordered everyone back to camp with the injured. Then immediately took a few of us to go find the the missing."

"How many are missing?"

"Including you, there were four. One boy Finn and I found caught up in a net. Bellamy found you and the other is still missing. But Calvin and Jada are still looking for him."

"And Octavia? She and I had run off in the same direction but got separated "

"She is safe at camp, but is looking pretty similar to you. She was caught in a snare and hit her head pretty hard as she fell. Bellamy and the two guys with him found her first. He had them carry her back to the camp while he kept looking. We passed them on our way from dropping off Darius, I think that was his name, anyway. Finn and Bellamy both seemed intent on finding you. Bellamy said it is because you are the closest thing we have to a doc. around here" Raven paused for a moment and her voice got softer. "Your mom would be proud."

Clarke suppressed a groan. "Can we please not talk about my mother?" She didn't mean to sound so snappy but she had a lot of crap to deal with right now and her feelings about her mother was not one of them. She glanced at the charm around Raven's neck and reminded herself firmly that her feelings about Finn was not one either.

That was a lot easier to do once she saw the injured teens back at the camp. Immediately she went towards one when Raven stopped her.

"You can barely stand! Take it easy for a minute."

"There are clean bandages in the ship, Montey can tell you where. Bring some hot water too please. Oh! and something I can see my reflection in."

Raven set her carefully down before running off to do as bid.

Clarke wanted to go to the girl she saw laying in the nearby tent but her own nausea was a reminder that she was not up to moving independently.

"Where is Bellamy?"

Clarke looked up to see a very battered looking Octavia. Raven said they looked the same, but did Clarke really look that bad? She blinked her eyes slowly to clear her thoughts.

"He went to the lake to get a seaweed poultice with Finn."

Octavia's eyes closed with relief and she sank to her knees. She glance around the camp and then her tear filled eyes landed on Clarke. "This can't keep happening."

Raven chose that exact moment to return. "Can't really find any mirrors, but I will keep looking." She set the water in front of Clarke and moved back toward the ship.

Clarke twisted, slowly sliding the strap of her pack up and over her head. She felt around inside it with her hand for the Valerian root she had found earlier that morning. "We will use this to make some tea, it should help with the pain and dizziness". Octavia nodded, eager for some relief.

Clarke forced herself to sit still while the tea took it's effect but her mind could not be idle.

"Octavia, where all are you hurt?"

"All over, but nothing too serious I think. But this bump on the head hurts like hell."

Clarke smiled in empathy. "Who else is hurt?"

"A boy named Marcus has been speared through the thigh and that girl over there has a broken leg or something. She fell from a tree trying to escape. Its weird though, because the grounders didn't really attack. It was more like they were chasing us into the traps."

Clarke agreed but her memories of the event were foggy and she was not in the mood for speculation. "So that boy , with the brown eyes and cropped hair?"

"He didn't make it."

Clarke waited a beat to continue, letting the death of yet another group member weigh heavily on her heart. "How is Marcus doing? Has the bleeding stopped?"

"Montey cauterized the wound, like we did with Jasper. All the pain must have made him pass out."

"And the girl? Has anyone set her leg?"

Octavia shook her head "no". Clarke mimicked the motion testing her own balance and seeing no spots, slowly stood. The girl's pain filled face had been bothering Clarke for a while now and she knew that without help, it would not be going away soon.

Clarke carefully walked the short distance to the girl's side.

"What's your name? We've not really met." Clarke smiled in a good-natured apology.

The girl shook her head quickly and offered a very brief smile. "Miranda"

"That's a pretty name, here drink this, it will help with the pain."

Clark waited for the girl to down the cup and then moved away to begin gathering what she would need to stabilize the girl's leg. Octavia had just joined her to help when Finn and Bellamy returned to the camp. Bellamy looked from Clarke to Octavia.

"Should you be walking around so much?" Clarke wasn't entirely sure who he was talking to with they way his eyes lingered on each girls face as he spoke. Octavia responded for both of them.

"We've been sitting very still most of the time, and besides, both of us had been waiting on you to be able to clean our wounds."

Finn, uncomfortable with the whole conversation, went to check on Clarke himself. He felt some self hatred over not being able to take care of her the way he wanted to.

Finn passed the bag of herbs and seaweed to Clarke and tried to see how she was doing. She was all business and stepped out of his reach. "Like she said, we are fine." Clarke dismissed him.

She wasn't mad at him, she just didn't know how to be casual around Finn yet.

Finn watched her move away with the usual precision and determination. But he saw the pain on her face, emotional or otherwise, and for the hundredth time that day he cursed himself for being such a fool.

Bellamy also watched Clarke work. His interest was in the way Octavia seemed so willing to help. Clarke would give concise directions to both his sister and Montey and they followed obediently. The camp needed people who could tend to the sick and wounded. Octavia looked as though she was a natural. He couldn't suppress a grimace as Clarke set the girl's bone, but Octavia was rock steady. He felt proud of his little sister.

He left the girls to their own devices so that he could attend to the matter of burying their lost comrade. Bellamy assigned two of his guys to take care of the body before wandering to the outer wall. There he stood, watching the woods and questioning what he had truly gotten himself into.

He must have stood there lost in thoughts for long while because by the time he had returned to camp, everything was quiet. He saw the three who had been out were safely returned. The boy had his arm in a sling. Maranda and Marcus were resting quietly. Clarke and Octavia were talking softly by a low fire. Bellamy began to make his way over to the girls but stopped as Finn reached them first with some water. Octavia accepted gratefully. And then Finn had a brief conversation with Clarke. He seemed to be slightly frustrated, she gave him a courteous response but was all business.

Bellamy watched Finn walk away towards the tent he was sharing with Raven and as his eyes passed back to Clarke's face, he saw the hurt, longing, and anger clearly etched in her brow. He knew instinctively what was happening and was impressed by how well Clarke seemed to be handling it. No screaming in the face when Finn screws up it seems. Perhaps he can tease her about it later.

The girls didn't seem to notice his approach, they were too busy talking to each other all of a sudden. Their heads were donned in matching braids and bandages. They sat with their knees drawn up to their chests like innocent little girls. As he got closer he could tell that they had washed their hair and faces clean of blood. He felt a small tug in his chest realizing they weren't so innocent as they seemed.

"Who's the genius that decided the two girls with head injuries should keep each other awake?"

Octavia laughed, Clarke mostly ignored him. As expected.

"Jasper is coming to sit up with us, he just wanted to gather some extra blankets in case it gets cold." Bellamy only narrowed his eyes in response so Octavia pressed on. "Clarke and I have been having a proper girls night. We braided each other hair and everything."

That got a genuine smile from both Bellamy and Clarke. Bellamy, happy in the thought that Octavia was making girlfriends, Clarke happy that after such a hard day, they could still find joy in the little things.

Bellamy caught himself just watching Clarke smile. He quickly sat down and wondered what had gotten into him? He knew he had a tendency to watch Clarke. Everyone in the camp did. She was very logical and wise. Her single minded determination to keep all of the delinquents alive had won her a fair amount of respect. They followed his orders, but looked to her for guidance. Bellamy had relied on her before to help him handle tough situations. He came over tonight because he wanted her take on the days events. Nothing more. He allowed his eyes to slide back to her profile.

Now wasn't as later as he had intended, but the put- out look on her face was just so amusing. She was staring at Finn's back as he readied for the night. She didn't get her way and was actually pouting! Bellamy couldn't hold in his chuckle.

Clarke could somehow tell he was laughing at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, its just I find it very ironic that you could have any guy in the camp you wanted. But you choose the one guy on the entire planet who just so happened to have a genius engineer girlfriend." Clarke gave him a dubious look but he continued. "A girl who, out of all the people on the Ark, made friends with your mom." Clarke rolled her eyes but it wasn't enough to even slow him down.

"Then your mother helps her build a ship to come down and join us!" His face broke into a wide grin. "You weren't just told "no" you were told "Hell No!"

Clarke wanted to be mad at him, she really did. But the amusement on his face was genuine. And when you put everything so simply like he did, the whole situation really did seem ridiculous. A small giggle escaped.

Octavia had been looking tentatively between the two, ready to step in if Bellamy was acting too much the bully. But as she thought of the situation in those terms, she couldn't help but to laugh either. "And to think, I was ready to fight you for him when we first got here. I am so glad I didn't though...Clingy girlfriends can be such a drag!"

With that, all three of them burst into laughter. Clarke was glad for an outlet for the small amount of hysteria she had been building all day. Laughing is so much saner sounding then screaming obscenities.

"You shouldn't be dating now anyway." Bellamy admonished his sister with a smile.

Octavia rolled her eyes at Bellamy's big brother act and was about to tell him where to get off when Clarke beat her to it.

"And what should she be doing Bellamy? Trying to bang the whole camp...at the same time? You are the last person here who should be giving dating advice."

"I can't help that I'm popular!"

"Popular! More like pompous you ass!" Octavia added a swift punch to the arm with her insult.

The girls had a good laugh at Bellamy's expense. He was laughing as well but had a sense of unease that he had been exposed somehow. He quickly pushed aside any feelings of shame over Clarke's disapproval of his choice of late night distractions. He didn't judge her nighttime activities!

Finn watched Clarke laugh and smile with Bellamy and his sister. He couldn't fathom what the three of them found so amusing. Could she be doing this all on purpose to punish him? He remembers a time not very long ago that Bellamy talked of wanting Clarke dead! Now they are sitting there talking like old friends! He was already standing to go over when Raven called out for him. 'I love Raven' he reminded himself. 'She needs me.'

Jasper had joined the group now anyway and it was likely Bellamy would be moving on.

Finn turned to go inside. He may have thought he could calmly return to Raven but had he looked back in that very moment and seen Clarke rest her soft little hand on Bellamy's forearm, Finn would have been across the camp before that garbage knew what hit him.

Clarke saw the pain in Bellamy's eyes. She knew how deeply he cared about people despite his own sense of self preservation. He had cared deeply about what happened to Charlotte and to Atom. Clarke knew he played the hard-ass leader well but was softer on the inside. So when he asked if she thought the grounders would attack again, she knew his question held more meaning.

Octavia and Jasper were deep in their own conversation now. Clarke leaned in closer and spoke firmly but in hushed tones.

"It is not your fault. What happened today, was not anyone's fault. We needed to find more supplies for the winter. There hadn't been any movement from the grounders for a while. You did what had to be done for the good of the camp."

"You had wanted to try and make contact with them, what if there can be a peace treaty or something?"

"No, you were right. The grounders are deadly and we need to treat them as something dangerous."

Bellamy felt oddly soothed by both her words of support and the very warm touch of her hand on his arm. He would never admit it out loud but he truly valued her opinion. No one else in the camp had the guts to get in his face and demand that he do the right thing, that he is in fact the kind of person who does the right thing.

His thoughts were interrupted by her voice. "Thank you for coming and finding me today."

The softness of her eyes, that hand still burning a hole in his arm, the sincerity of her thanks. It all became too much. He pulled back and rose to his feet. "It wasn't you I was really looking for, but you are welcome." He lied. He turned to walk away, fearful that Clarke could see it written all over his face. He told himself that he went looking for Clarke because Octavia was hurt, and he trusted no one else to look after her. But really he looked for her because he always looks for her. In a crisis, it has always been those blue eyes that he locks onto. And he never has trouble finding them in a crowd.

First he only looked to know what she knew. Then he looked to know what she was planning. It didn't take long before he looked to know what she was thinking. Now he finds himself looking all the time. He tells himself it's pathetic and that it will pass. She'll pull some princess crap and he'll remember where they really stand. How different they are, and how his time in the sun will fade, but that she will always be the daughter of privilege.


	2. Chapter 2

(Author's notes: Thank you so much for the encouraging reviews! Chapter 3 is on hold for the developments of episode 6- I'm waiting to see what we learn about the grounders on the show)

Octavia carefully tucked her blanket around Jasper's sleeping form. He had done a valiant job of keeping her and Clarke awake. But ultimately he had drifted off a few hours before sunrise.

Octavia had been surprised at how Clarke's 'no nonsense', 'I'm right, so you better listen', personality eased into warmth and compassion. She had found herself opening up and talking about what life had been like while having to hide on the Ark. She had believed Clarke when she said that they weren't going to let things get like that again. "We have to do better than we did in the past." That's what Clarke had told her. Octavia had decided she liked that message far better than "Do whatever the hell we want."

Clarke interrupted her thoughts "You ready?"

Octavia stood and followed Clarke to the water basin. The sun was beginning to rise so they finally had ample enough light to see the full extent of everyone's injuries. First though, they had to check one another"

Octavia felt her head be pulled down by light fingers. Her bandage peeled away carefully. Octavia couldn't hold back a flinch as it stuck slightly.

"Your bleeding has stopped, I think we can go with just the poultice for now."

Clarke applied a thin slave then bent her own head for inspection. Her bandage came away easily. "Is there flesh blood? Or...oozing of any kind?"

Octavia passed the bandage back to Clarke and looked at the wound. "No to the bleeding, yes to the oozing."

Clarke saw the yellowish pus in the bandage and decided some dirt must have been left in the wound, embedded by the splinter may be?

"I will lean back, you just need to run clean water over it." Octavia soaked a cloth and squeezed it out over the cut before lightly dabbing at it with care and precision.

It still hurt, but Clarke was grateful it didn't have to be any worse than it was. "You're good at this"

"Thank you, _I think_. Somehow I managed to be decent at dealing with people despite living under the floor."

"Compared to some people who lived their whole lives out in the open, you are not screwed up at all." Clarke smiled. It was true, Octavia may be impetuous but she wasn't selfish or hard hearted. She was like one of those ridiculous princess from the fairtails who grow up poor and abused but end up being kind to animals and loved by the prince.

"Atom said it was because I was loved." Her voice seemed small. Clarke marveled at how close their thoughts had been. She then thought of everything Octavia had told her about the night before and had to agree with Atom's theory.

"All done!"

Clarke reached up and felt the new bandage. Octavia had done a good job. "You are a natural at this! Do you think you can do the same for Marcus? Clean the wound and change the bandage?"

Octavia smiled at the challenge "You bet!" She gathered supplies and headed in the boy's direction and Clarke went to boil some water.

Montey had been helping her identify the local herbs and all their properties. The Valerian Root had been especially potent and was easily made into tea for pain relief. Clarke hadn't made very much progress when she spotted Bellamy emerging from his tent. He gave the camp a quick once over, noted her location then made his way to Octavia.

Clarke watched him place a gentle hand to his sister's forehead. He must have asked how she was because Octavia gave a small nod. One hand stayed cupped in her hair while the other gently rubbed her shoulder. Suddenly his eyes narrowed and shot to her face.

Clarke quickly looked away and busied herself with preparing the tea, embarrassed at being caught staring. Was he mad at her for putting Octavia to work? She risked another glance in his direction.

Bellamy left a light kiss on Octavia's forehead before making his way over.

He had slept in longer than he planned to. He wanted to be up at first light but the sun was already well on its way when he rolled out of bed. He had gotten dressed quickly, anxious to see how his sister was doing. The sight of her tending to Marcus came as a bit of a surprise. Instinctively he looked around the camp for the other caretaker in their midst.

He had his second surprise of the morning when he caught her blue eyes resting on him. He looked away quickly, but not before noting how pale she seemed. He then made his way to Octavia. Her eyes were clear and her face full of color.

"You seem happy?"

She looked down and to the side, as if she had to ponder that idea. "It's weird, but, I am"

"You make a good nurse" Octavia smiled self consciously at his compliment. He meant it though. Marcus looked well taken care of. Speaking of which, Bellamy's eyes moved to Octavia's hair line. All he could see was the smear of the poultice so he gently cupped her head and moved in for a closer inspection.

"You look much better then yesterday. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine" she nodded.

Her blood soaked face and twisted body suddenly flashed before his eyes. Bellamy reached out with his other hand to assure himself that his sister was indeed "fine."

"You had me worried."

"That's my job!" Octavia smiled, but then her brows crumpled in thought. "Clarke has me a little worried. I don't think she is healing well."

Bellamy felt his eyes snap in that direction and he tried to ignore the slight tightness he suddenly felt in his chest. Clarke had been watching him again.

Even though he told himself he wasn't worried, her watching him so closely made him think she was trying to hide something, like pain. And that only seemed to make _not worry_ more.

Without fully thinking through his next course of action, Bellamy made his way over to blonde.

He stopped a few feet away,maybe Octavia had been exaggerating? Clarke did seem pale but her hands were steady as she set ocut away small pieces of root. "How is everyone doing?"

Yeah, that's what he walked all the way over there to ask.

"Healing nicely." She smiled and then nodded toward the sack from the lake. "That has been helping"

Bellamy clenched his jaw and took a step closer. "How are you doing?" Stuffing his hands deep inside his pockets, he searched her face and examined her bandaged head as closely as possible.

Clarke briefly thought about how nice it would be to have her head held and temple kissed, her father used to do that. "I'll be fine."

She was surprised to hear her voice come out at just above a whisper.

Bellamy nodded, cleared his throat, then walked away. His hands, if possible, were pushed even deeper inside his pockets.

Clarke was surprised, she had been expecting a lecture for making his sister work, but he was just checking on her.

Not for the first time, Clarke questioned her own judgment when it came to boys.

Did she really want _it_ to be Finn? If so why had the thought of kissing him never really cross her mind until _after_ Wells died? What was the name of that hormone released in the brain after sex? Did that have anything to do with how she had been feeling?

Clarke shook her head. Bottom line, she was mad, and hurt. It sucks being the other woman. Especially when the other girl is so much smarter and cooler than you. And friends with you mom.

Maybe nothing would have ever happened with Finn if Wells hadn't died. Clarke felt tears pushing against the back of her eyes. She should have been the friend Wells deserved, why hadn't she forgiven him sooner, or better yet, stuck around just a little longer that night? It was her fault. She should have had her friend's back. I should have stayed with him.

Clarke felt the tears slide down her face and quickly hid their tracks with the back of her hand. She can't do this now. Her hands and feet began moving automatically to pass out the tea.

She didn't notice Raven coming up behind her. "Clarke, you look like you are going to pass out. Come sit down."

Clarke allowed herself to be led to a shady spot. Once her legs felt the coolness of the ground, her back, arms and head quickly to followed.

Raven glanced over the prone form and took in a deep breath. "This is going to sound like crappy timing, but can you meet me later?"

_Where? If it is secluded location say no!_ Clakre shook her head at the crazy path her thoughts had taken. Evidently head injuries can sometimes lead to paranoia. She pushed onto her elbows and turned to Raven. "When were you thinking?"

"Early evening, not too late though, at the ship. I know you haven't been able to sleep yet."

"I'll be there" She smiled, but in this moment, they were out of Valerian Root, and Clarke had decided she needed some alone time. "I need to go get more supplies now any way."

"Alone? Are you sure that's safe."

"It's not far at all, plus I need a light walk."

Raven looked doubtful but didn't raise any additional arguments.

Clarke quietly made her way out of camp, slowly making her way to the small grouping of trees to the north. Her pace was deliberately slow, the emotions of the morning still weighed heavily upon her.

She had been wrong, wrong about Wells, her mother, Charlotte, and to some extent, even Finn. Her conversation with Octavia the night before drifted through her mind. Could she have been wrong about Bellamy too? He had been such an ass when they first landed, correction, he has been an ass as recently as yesterday! And everyone loves him for it. The guy knows how to play a crowd. But then he had also protected Charlotte at the risk of incurring their wrath.

Based on what Octavia had said, many of the kids in Bellamy's crew and known him before on the Ark. He had run with a ruff crowd trying to get extra rations for his little sister. Octavia said he was the fastest and smartest of all the kids so he never got caught. Which was good since Bellamy applied to be a guard as soon as he was old enough.

At first Clarke had been surprised that someone like Bellamy would sign up to take orders from other people. The it hit her: All the guards get an extra portion of rations.

She had never known of anyone having a sibling before. It seems kind of nice. Except for the whole hiding and starving part.

Clarke also had never seen anyone with such deep brown eyes before. His emotions would flicker across them like a screen, telegraphing his very thoughts. Finn had said there was no way to predict that Bellamy would go after that radio. But Clarke had seen the desperation in his eyes whenever there was talk of making contact with the Ark. She knew.

Those eyes would always find her too. Every time something happened, she would look to see what he was doing about it and he'd be looking right back at her. At first, it was a look of challenge: brows drawn together, his eyes measuring every word she said.

Then as things on the ground got more complicated, and he found himself struggling under the weight of responsibility, his eyes became searching. There are far more questions in his gaze than challenges these days.

Clarke knew very well that she had to rely on Bellamy's charisma and leadership to make things happen in the camp. Only now did it finally dawn on her that Bellamy needed her too.

Distant chants interrupted her thoughts. Something was happening at the camp!

Sprinted towards the wall, she stuffed roots in her pack as she went. After sliding through the narrow opening left for getting in and out, Clark looked around to get her bearings.

There! Off to the left of the drop ship, at the base of a hill was a circle of teens. She could hear clearly now, they were chanting "Fight Fight Fight."

In the middle of the circle two boys were facing off.

This is madness! Clarke thought. She saw Bellamy on the outer edge of the circle and immediately took back any kind thought she just had about him.

Clarke rolled her shoulders and marched forward. There is no way she was going to tolerate blood sport! Passing close by Bellamy she made sure to bump him hard with her shoulder and glare at him as she continued past so he knew exactly how pissed off she was.

Somehow he managed to catch her wrist before she made it any further into the circle.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going princess?"

Clarke twisted her arm out of Bellamy's grasp. "To do what you should be doing, and stop the fight!" She tried to make her way further into the fray but a tight pressure pulled down on her shoulder forcing her to turn back around.

Bellamy held tight to Clarke's shoulders as he bent forward to look her in the eyes. "You want to stop the fight? Talk to her." His chin jerked in the direction of a girl on the inner edge of the circle.

Clarke snapped her icy stare to the girl in question. "They are fighting over a girl?" Clarke gave the said female a once over. She didn't see much in her face or figure worth fighting over. She turned back to Bellamy, her fight mostly lost in the absurdity of it all. "Why?"

"Well" Bellamy's bottom lip rolled under the edge of his teeth and his eyes took on a darker shade. Somehow Clarke felt as if he was suddenly looking very deeply inside of her.

"Sometimes love is worth fighting for." His arms slid down her arms to cup both elbows. "And sometimes, it's just sex."

Bellamy used Clarke's elbows to turn her back to the fight. One boy was already on the ground being tended to by the girl he had been fighting over. The other stood off to the side, chest heaving, looking oddly satisfied.

Bellamy couldn't resist leaning in towards Clarke's ear and whispering. "See, it's all over and everyone got what they wanted."

Clarke was positive he wasn't referring to her situation and that she wasn't blushing.


	3. Chapter 3

Raven was feeling pretty proud of herself. It had taken two full days of work, but she had finally gotten the old transmitter hooked up to the drop ship radio system. With the makeshift antenna and just enough juice from the generators, the radio signal should be able to reach the Ark. Or so she hoped. Seeing 300 souls return to the earth was not something she wanted to experience twice.

Luckily, Finn had been able to help her find all the replacement parts she had needed. Raven's smile died on her lips. He had also found himself another girl.

She didn't realize anything was wrong at first. But then she started noticing little things: the way he hesitated to show affection, that too serious look that would pass over him at odd times. It was the little figurine of a two headed deer tucked away in a place only he and Clarke knew about. And it was the way his eyes wouldn't meet hers after she found it. He didn't confess, not in words, but Raven knew. Taken separately it wouldn't have meant much to her. But after her visit to the bunker she had started putting each event together in her mind.

Then Clarke had come to check on the progress with the radio. Raven didn't want to even acknowledge the other girls presence while all those troublesome thoughts were swirling through her head. But clearly refusing to be ignored is a Griffin family trait

Confronting Clarke had been an accident but the girl had kept asking if something was wrong so Raven let her have it. Clark had no denials, just a rushed explanation. In the end it was worse than Raven had thought. Clarke said it was over and she hardly knew him. But Finn still had those moments of too serious looks and hesitant kisses.

Raven pulled back her hand sharply. Without thinking, she placed two bleeding fingers in her mouth.

She wasn't focusing again and had just scraped her knuckles against something sharp. Her mind was too full of how to confront Finn. So far, she had just been pretending that everything was fine while trying to keep her distance. She busied herself with the radio and didn't complain when Finn took off for long hours into the woods. She had accepted his offer help by sending to the roof to fix the solar panels with Monty.

Maybe when Clarke comes to talk about the radio, she can ask her to confront Finn. But how would she even go about asking such a thing?

'Will you tell my boyfriend I know you slept with him?'

"Tell who what?" Raven turned in shock, how long had Monty been standing there? He looked dirty, sweaty, and confused.

"Uh, can you _tell Finn you kept up with him_ in putting the components together for the solar panels? We will need to hook those up now for the radio to have enough power."

Monty nodded and left. Raven sighed in relief, he bought that?

Finn and Monty had been working on opposite sides of the ship repairing solar panels. If they could get all of them running again the ship would have enough power for the radio and the other onboard systems again.

Raven heard Finn from a distance shout that they were ready and then moments later the whole drop ship lit up. Her eyes moved up and across the cabin as the monitors flickered on and air system fans began to spin. A smile of pure triumph split her face. "Now that's more like it!"

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Once again Raven wasn't as alone as she thought. Clarke was standing in the doorway this time. She was looking appropriately impressed but her face was very pale and her cheeks were flushed.

"Yeah! But are you alright? You don't-"

"I'm fine!" Clarke rubbed the back of her right hand against the opposite check in a self conscious gesture. Had she been blushing?

"We fixed most of the solar panels and re-routed power from obsolete systems like navigation and the oxygen generator." Raven looked around in satisfaction. "Ready to try the radio?"

Clarke almost turned to go find Bellamy but decided his little stunt a moment ago just cost him some common courtesy.

Instead she felt the corner of her mouth move up into an almost smile. She narrowed her eyes at Raven "Let's do this."

Raven moved past Clarke to stick her head outside "Finn, Monty, time to move!"

By the time the boys made it inside the two girls were already at the radio controls.

"This is earth to Ark can you read me?" Raven waited at the com for a response and everyone held their breath.

Nothing. She tried again "Earth to the Ark, can you read me?"

A few more calls out and a few more breathless moments passed until finally: "Earth, this is the Ark. We read you loud and clear."

The person on the other line sounded genuinely surprised.

"We did it!" Monty breathed. The small group smiled and laughed in relief. Clarke gave Monty a hug and Finn squeezed Raven's shoulders in congratulations.

His arms almost reached out to hug Clarke but they just fell to his sides. He was unsure of how she would respond to even a simple hug. Clarke had been giving him no room for any form of physical affection. Finn had never felt so unsure of himself before.

Here he has his girlfriend, his family, right by his side. But somehow that wasn't enough anymore. He had tried to talk to Clarke about it, but she was so damn focused on everything else he-

"This is Councilman Kane, how is everyone?"

Finn's train of thought came crashing into the sound of the new voice on the radio.

Kane? Of all the people on the Ark why him? Finn felt Clarke's hand touch his arm. She looked concerned. He must have physically responded to hearing that man again.

Raven began to respond back to the question and suddenly he felt fearful at what she was going to say

"Everyone appears to be healthy-" Finn squeezed her shoulder and when Raven looked up at him he raised his eyebrows and shook his head. A warning not to say too much.

"That is good to hear, can we get a list of all survivors?"

Finn felt his entire body tense. Kane does not need to have that information. Clarke was still watching him closely so he just looked at her and shook his head again. Everyone just needs to stay _quiet_. Clarke narrowed her eyes at him then immediately moved to the radio and silently held out her hand for Raven to pass the com.

"We can tell you that there are 92 of the 100 alive and well. No symptoms of radiation poisoning." Her voice was clipped. She wasn't giving out too much information but her suspicions were on high alert. Finn decided he should move out of her direct line of sight and casually went to lean against the opposite wall.

"Excellent, that is good news. Once we have the list of names we can pass it along to the family members." The councilman seemed intent on getting the names, but his reasoning pushed against Clarke the wrong way.

"And what family members would that be? Most of us are from sector 17!"

A new voice came over the radio. "Clarke? This is the Chancellor." He paused for a moment but Clarke seemed too angry to respond. "We had to follow through with the population reduction. But, we let the people know what was happening. Your mother broadcasted your father's message. Clarke, everyone who died was a volunteer."

The shock of that statement rippled across the faces of the four teens.

Clarke allowed herself a small moment to for that news to settle and to prepare herself for the news she had to share. "I didn't want to tell you this way Chancellor, but it would be cruel to make you wait. Wells, he, was one of the ones who didn't make it."

Now the other side needed a moment of silence. The Chancellor's voice was shaky when he came back on the line. "The council will need to meet now that we know the earth is habitable, but we will be in touch again shortly."

The radio went silent and Clarke immediately turned to Finn. "How do you know Councilman Kane?"

Finn did not like being in Clarke's crosshairs. "Just because you are on a first name basis with the Council, doesn't mean the rest of us couldn't have met one of them too."

Clarke breathed out her nose and studied him very carefully. "No, it's more than that and you know it!"

Finn didn't like her suspicions being raised towards him. He was not sure how much he should share but had grown tired of the distance between the two of them. He would have to tell her just enough to remove suspicion. He could tell her the rest another time. "Kane found me in lock-up and told me about going to the earth. He asked me to keep an eye on you."

Clarke withdrew slightly. "In exchange for what?"

Finn glanced at raven "In exchange for Raven being on the next ship down."

Clarke's brows crumpled in thought. "But why would Kane want to protect me? And why you?"

Finn couldn't tell if that last question was really addressed to him but answered anyway. "He knew me from the space walk but other than that, I can't say for sure."

Clarke was staring at the ground as if it held all the answers she needed. Finn could practically see the gears turning in her head. She looked over her shoulder at the radio and her fists clenched at her sides. Clarke then gave Finn one last searching look before pressing her lips together and focusing her attention to the door.

No one was there. He was about to ask what it was but stopped as Clarke rolled her shoulders and began making determined strides towards it.

Twilight was encroaching upon the camp when Clarke stepped out of the ship. Kane wanting to help her only from the goodness of his heart seemed implausible. Someone on the Ark was trying to manipulate them, or worse sabotage the entire mission. They needed to be very careful what type of information went up and came down and there was only one person in camp who Clarke knew would want to enforce this. Her steps were determined, but her mind was still playing with the pros and cons of telling Bellamy everything she knew.

He wasn't outside like she had expected, he must be in his tent. Clarke stormed over to his home- her hand was already reaching out to raise the fabric. _He might not be alone_. Maybe she should wait? Her hand fell back to her side. No noise was coming from inside. A few kids nearby who had seen her march over were now giving her an odd look.

Clarke agreed that she looked pretty stupid just standing there. Plus, waiting sucks. _Just spit out what you came to say and don't look around too much!_ Clarke made sure her shoulders were back and her head was held high before just stepping in.

"We should limit communication with the Ark." Clarke's mind quickly tumbled into a confused little mess. What happened to telling him the radio was fixed? What happened to his shirt? Why does it smell so nice in here?

Bellamy saw the challenging stance of her body but her eyes were unfocused and her little nose was moving in small arches. _So she likes sage? _

"Shouldn't that be easy without a radio? And what happened to knocking?" Bellamy made sure to sound more put out than he actually felt. Clarke looking so befuddled was rather amusing.

"Raven just got it working". She dismissed him easily and decided to test out a name on Bellamy. "Councilman Kane responded."

Bellamy looked nonplussed. "And?"

"And he asked Finn to look after me before we left" Clarke watched Bellamy closely for any signs of defensiveness. All she saw was slight irritation.

"I still don't see why that is significant?"

Clarke still hadn't finished fully weighing out the ramifications of going to Bellamy with this. But she was going to need him on her side if even part of her suspicions were true.

"Kane has no reason to look after me. He wasn't exactly close friends with my parents. There are also a dozen other people he could have asked to keep an eye out. But he chose Finn, a 4th level earth skills tracker to watch over the only other person headed down here who could read a topographical map".

Bellamy wasn't sure where Clarke was going with all this. Or why she needed to tell him. "Why is this so important that you have to barge in here?"

"We landed on the wrong mountain without any radio. What if Kane knew that was going to happen?"

That scenario didn't really make sense to him. "Then he wouldn't have made sure the only people who could figure that out found each other."

"He would if he wanted it to be easier to kill us. But maybe he just knew about it. He knew we were going to land off course, but let it happen so as not to alert who ever tampered with the ship. Someone sabotaged the mission as best they could, and he is trying to catch them. We need to limit contact with the Ark and find out if anyone else made some last minute visits."

Bellamy wondered when Clarke had become so insightful on political intrigue, was it a new trait or something she had used often back on the Ark? "I can ask around, but why limit communication?"

"Let me put it this way, who asked you to shoot the chancellor?'

Bellamy's chest rose and fell in a heavy sigh drawing Clarke's eyes downward.

"I get your point. And it was Commander Shuyman, not a council member. He came to me twenty minutes before the ship was set to leave. I wanted to shoot him, but I couldn't let them send her down all by herself."

Clarke re-focused her eyes onto Bellamy's face. "Shuyman picked you as someone he could manipulate. I'm sure you were not the only one either. He may have more people down here."

He didn't like that she basically just said he was easily manipulated, but it was true, he had been desperate. He looked out past her shoulder, staring at nothing. Members of the guard were in the perfect position to pressure underage detainees.

Clarke watched Bellamy's eyes go through a range of emotions. Anger, hurt, resentment but then they softened. He was going to support her on this; she could see it now in his relaxed posture. "Something is happening up there that we can't control. But we can limit their influence by carefully monitoring all communication."

He raised his arms wide in what he felt would seem both questioning and challenging. "You want guards for a radio?"

He didn't notice until just then that Clarke's eyes had drifted down over his exposed chest and as he raised his arms, her eyes followed down the length of one of them.

Had her eyes been hungry he would have puffed out his chest and flexed some muscles in smug confidence. Even the high and mighty Clarke couldn't resist him! Instead he reached for a shirt. The deep blue that was taking him in had a contemplative shade that made Bellamy feel as though she was seeing far more of him than he wanted to be seen. By the time he had finished dressing her eyes were back to his face and the steel was back to her posture.

"I don't want anyone talking to the Ark without us knowing about it. I don't trust anyone on the council right now, even my own mother"

Bellamy raised his eyebrows in question to this. But she shook her head in a tired sort of way that seemed to say it was a long story.

Bellamy had not fully made up his mind on where he stood with being able to communicate with the Ark, but when he saw that Clarke was intent on limiting contact he was more than ready to support her.

"Agreed."


	4. Chapter 4

Raven slowly became aware of a hard floor beneath her. A blue glow to the left signaled she had fallen asleep at her workstation again. But as her eyes slowly opened it wasn't Mecca she saw. It was the innards of a drop ship. On earth, she was on earth.

Slowly, she sat up, rolling her neck to remove the kinks. The blue glow was emanating from a monitor in Clarke's lap. The screen had been pulled away from the mounting system; delicate wires were precariously stretching back towards their nest in the wall.

Finn was nowhere to be seen, he must have gone on another early morning trek. Glancing towards Clarke, Raven decided to continue with the friendly routine. Nothing could be gained by turning Clarke into the enemy.

"For a moment there, I felt like I was still back home."

Clarke spared her an indulgent smile. "Yes, but now this is home. And we need to figure out how to stay alive long enough for the others to join us." She inclined her head back to the monitor, implying she had found something important.

Raven smiled despite herself, Clarke's practicality was so predictable that it was almost becoming endearing. "Okay, so what do you got?"

"The Ark may have sent us down here without any supplies, but they did arm us with knowledge. The ship's computer is loaded with digital media on the Earth, medical books, and survival guides." Clarke turned the screen for Raven's inspection and scrolled through what looked to be an index. Several selections had been highlighted.

"You found a way to make soap! Sweet. What are all those at the bottom?"

Clark's hand arched out and up, motioning to the makeshift medical station and her own head wound. "References to field medicine. I was actually trying to find something on removing debris, I think there is still something stuck under the skin. It would explain the pain and irritation."

Raven couldn't tell if Clarke still had the paleness of the day before, artificial light makes everyone look ghost like. But had Clarke really been in pain this whole time? Knowing her she had probably had other priorities to think about and was only now allowing herself to register her own needs. "So did you find anything?"

"Just what I already knew. There must still be other fragments left behind from when I was hit by that pieced together metal bar." Clarke removed her bandage carefully and Raven had to look away. Her wound looked swollen and full of pus.

"Is it infected? We can get more of those plants-"

"It's not an infection; it's the body's natural response to a foreign agent. All the books say to cut it out but we don't have anything small enough or sharp enough to make a precise cut." Clarke turned the cloth of her bandage to where the soiled side was on the inside of a fold and then carefully tied it back around her head."

"You said the object was metal right? Could a magnet work?"

"In theory it should, I would still need to cut open the skin but wouldn't have to be as careful. Where would we get a magnet?"

Raven pulled the monitor from Clarke's grasp and scrolled through until finding a video file. Once it opened the sound of old earth animals filled the room. Raven tilted her eyes and raised one eyebrow at the baffled look on Clark's face. "The speakers have electromagnets." Raven held the speaker portion of the screen to her forehead. "We can use it like this."

Clarke decided it was worth a try and within ten minutes her splinter had been removed, her pain was significantly lowered, and her head had a fresh but shallow gash. Clarke was surprised at how well the speakers worked at pulling out the metal. It had actually been two small slivers. So small that she likely would not have found them without help.

Clarke also took advantage of her time alone with Raven to learn a little more about Finn's past.

Nothing surprising, he was resourceful and well respected. She was trying to delve deeper when Miller had shown up to take watch over the coms. Bellamy had been true to his word.

Clarke did feel some unease over who was going to guard Miller but Raven had looked as if she would be in close proximity tinkering with the ships other monitors for a while. If they could get them all working, kids could come in and read the survival guides. It might even be feasible to set up video conferencing. _If it was safe to communicate_.

The Ark had yet to make contact again. The survival of the 100 in the face of the loss the Ark had just suffered must have set off a firestorm. Clarke wondered what the council was saying about the abandoned teens. Her own suspicions that someone had tried to sabotage the mission had been heightened by the fact that she had not been able to find any maps stored in the ships memory. A glaring absence in light of the abundance of other related information. But maybe if other people started going through all the information, a map or two may pop up. Until then, she would keep a careful eye on her own map, the only one in camp.

She also needed to keep a close eye on Marcus and Miranda. Marcus had been lucky; the spear missed his organs, landing in the fatty tissue of his thigh. It was the girl she was more worried about. Miranda hadn't just fallen from a tree. She had stepped on a spring loaded trap and was thrown 15 feet into the tree before hitting the ground. Even without an x-ray it had been clear she had an open compound fracture. On the Ark the girl would have undergone surgery and gotten pins in her leg. Everything would have healed like it had never happened. Down here she'll have a permanent limp.

Octavia noticed Clarke's pensive stance from across the camp and decided the blonde should be having more fun. She glanced around her new group of friends; the game they had just made up needed a fifth player.

Several earlier risers had been milling around the camp after the hunting party left. No one wanted to start working without their full crew so a game was invented to pass the time. The goal was to "make a stitch" by throwing four small rocks onto consecutive numbers on a grid dug into the dirt. The higher the run of numbers went, the higher the score.

Clarke approached the group in response to Octavia's call but felt oddly self conscious. She really didn't have time for games. Looking into the center of the circle, she could tell the object of the game had something to do with how the small stones landed. "I didn't really want to interrupt your game, besides, we need clean bandages." She hedged.

The darker-haired girl to Octavia's immediate right nodded in agreement, as if she had been thinking about the need for bandages for a while. Octavia glanced at her and then back to Clarke. She had an idea. "Why don't you join us in a game and then we can help?"

Clarke wasn't sure the group even wanted her to join them. "I don't really have time for-"

"What? Making friends? Having fun?" Octavia interrupted. She smiled invitingly and slid over to make room for Clarke. The other girl also smiled. The other two group members seemed more curious than anything else.

Octavia noted Clarke's continued hesitation. "We were trying to think of a way to make the game more interesting. Instead of just earning points, maybe we can bet on chore time."

The boy on Octavia's left, Tim if Clarke remembered the name correctly, spoke up, "Right Blake, like you are going to dig a latrine for me." He had to shake the sandy blonde hair out of his eyes in order to give Octavia an appropriately incredulous look.

"No! But I will help you dig one. Say in 10 minute increments?" Octavia had their interest now. The idea of sharing the load with people already awake and willing to help sounded pretty nice.

Clarke was almost sold but... "If I lose, then I spend all day helping everyone else with their chores and the bandages won't get cleaned."

Octavia bit her lower lip, almost as if to keep herself from smiling too brightly. "Well you see, that's where I come in, making bandages is one of my jobs too and I'm winning!"

The faces all seemed suddenly more inviting somehow. Clarke looked back over her shoulder in the direction of the dirty strips of cloth. A few minutes of game play would be well worth the extra pair of hands.

Several hours later Bellamy was slowly making his way back to camp under what should be the mid day sun. It was a little too overcast to tell for sure. The hunting party had enjoyed a successful morning, they managed to bring down two dear and a razorback. Bellamy had let the others take the 'prize' back to camp, claiming he needed to check all the small game traps. The truth was he just wanted alone time.

Ever since contact had been made with the Ark he couldn't stop thinking about Jaha and the 320 people called to sacrifice themselves to conserve oxygen. He felt a familiar pressure at the back of his eyes but pushed it away with the usual anger.

"No one cares that you didn't know about the plan" he whispered. He couldn't use ignorance of the facts to excuse people dying because of something he did. No one else did. And it wasn't like those workers had been the only ones to die or get hurt due to his ignorance and stubbornness.

His list of sins began to pile in his mind until he had to force himself to refocus. His mantra had been growing longer since coming to Earth. Don't let Octavia get hurt. Don't let the people in the camp die. Don't get caught by the Ark. Those were his priorities. He reminded himself that everything else could be dealt with later, when winter was over, or the Ark came down.

Bellamy adjusted the rabbits hanging limply from his shoulder and had an odd image of himself hunting in the snow with an oversized rabbit fur coat. As long as they could hunt there would be some food. But based on what Clarke had been saying, the biggest threat to their lives would not be starvation, but exposure and disease.

Sanitation would be their greatest defense against illness. Bellamy altered his course to check on the progress of the outhouses on his return to camp. There were no shovels so the people assigned to work there would have to remove the dirt with flat pieces of metal and bare hands. He was thinking he might need to assign two crews to work in shifts so that no one was overburdened. Fortunately it had been easy to get the camp to come together and take on all the necessary preparations for winter.

Colder weather was proving to be an excellent motivator.

He scanned the outer edge of the camp looking for three guys chest deep in dirt. His eyes landed on something very different from what he had been expecting. His feet literally stopped working as his mind tried to process the sight before him.

Right there, knees deep in the upturned earth, was Clarke. She was scooping out medium sized chunks of dirt from a shallow hole. Mud was smeared across her cheek and clothing. She was smiling. Right across from her in the same hole was Octavia. Two other girls mirrored their position a few feet away. They were digging a latrine.

One of the guys, Tim, was up to his thighs in another hole close by. He was scooping out much larger sized chunks while amusing the girls with a story. The other two boys each had their own hole about ten feet away. Their attention was more on the removal of dirt.

Bellamy had rarely seen Clarke spending time with people outside her core group. She was laughing at that idiot's story like they were old friends. But she looked worn out.

"What are you doing?" All movement stopped. Had he sounded too harsh? Bellamy went for a softer tone. "You girls had other things to do, why are you helping here?"

He could see now that the dark haired girl at the other hole was Piper. Her mother had been a homeopathic healer back on the Ark. Bellamy had sought help there more than once when Octavia had fallen ill. Piper glanced nervously at Clarke. She had always been shy and skittish. The two boys further off went back to work. Bellamy thought he might have seen Tim roll his eyes but decided to ignore it.

Clarke smiled up at him in a way he knew was just challenging him to say she couldn't help. "Well, as it turns out, I'm really bad at flipping a switch."

Octavia let loose a small snort of laughter. Tim leaned towards Clarke as if he had a secret. "It's is and always has been called a stitch, as in something that is connected..." His mock whisper was highlighted by the laughter in his voice.

Clarke rolled her eyes "Right, like you guys didn't change the name of the game three different times while we were playing?"

"Laugh it up blonde, maybe if you got the name right you wouldn't have lost every round." Tim laughed and then returned to scooping. The girls went back to digging as well. Bellamy had been forgotten.

He's gone for a little more than four hours and already Clarke has a new best friends and a nickname. "I thought you had medical supplies to organize?"

Clarke stopped working again to look up at him. "I did but Piper, Tim, Eva and Octavia helped me finish everything this morning. The bandages are hanging out to dry now." Clarke smiled again, clearly pleased that so much work had been accomplished in one morning.

Bellamy realized she fully intended to continue digging that damn hole. He glanced over at Tim and wondered why he felt he didn't need a shirt in such cool weather. Bellamy had planned on going back to camp to eat lunch and rest, but something about leaving Clarke to finish digging a latrine with that bandage still on her head and circles under her eyes didn't settle well with him.

He slid the rabbits off his shoulder to land next to Piper. "Take these back to camp." The girl scampered off without argument and Bellamy was able to feel that he wasn't singling Clarke out.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out something he knew would get her attention. He tossed it over his shoulder as he casually turned to leave.

She easily caught the item and carefully turned it over in her hands. "Is this an apple?" She called out after him. "Where did you find it?" He continued to make his way into the center of camp, knowing she would follow.

"Bellamy, wait, are there a lot of these?"

He walked on without answering for a little while to keep her following behind him. When he glanced back over his shoulder he saw that Octavia and Eva had stayed behind. Maybe everyone could use a break. "Lunch first, and then I'll show you where I found it and we can talk on the way about the information you wanted."

Word had spread quickly through camp about the visit to the apple orchard. About fifteen of the kids who had finished their chores for the day were eager to get away and go apple picking, They had all gathered containers for holding the apples, including the kids who had been on latrine duty. Bellamy had asked a few of the stronger guys to go help out. All five pits dug in half a day was amazing progress.

Bellamy survived the camp with an odd mixture of pride and trepidation. So much had already been accomplished, but they still had a long way to go.

Light but determined footsteps were approaching him from behind. Bellamy didn't have to turn around to know it was Clarke. She stopped in front of him with an expectant look on her face.

"Ready to go?" His tone was teasing but his eyes were busy assessing if she was up for the walk. Automatically he went to check the bandage on her head, only it wasn't there. On impulse his hand reached out to brush aside her hair. It was soft against his fingertips. "_All hair is soft idiot"_ he reminded himself.

Clarke shifted slightly as his hand approached but didn't try to avoid his reach. His look and demeanor were clinical. "I had to remove some more splinters, but it's healing well enough now."

Bellamy dropped his hand back to his side satisfied she could make the trek. He straightened back to his full height and stepped forward to address the group at large. "Everyone who is interested in something more than nuts and berries, follow me!" He sounded cocky on purpose.

Bellamy led the group out with Clarke close by his side. Their arms brushed as they walked and he wondered why she didn't move away. Although he supposed that if she were any further away, the others might overhear their conversation.

"So what else have you found out?" He had promised to give her information on their walk, and she hadn't forgotten.

"Jones and Monroe were both housed in the minimum security area before the launch. It is right at the opening of the detention center, everyone coming and going had to pass by them." Bellamy lowered his voice an octave before sharing more. "They each saw Shuyman, Kane and former Councilwoman Solomon making visits shortly before we were sent down. About 15 visits total".

"Who did they go to see?"

"I'm still working on that. Jones said Shuyman and Solomon were together for 5 of those visits. Kane came on his own eight times, Shuyman twice."

Clarke nodded but really this information made little sense to her. What could these people want with prisoners- children?

Bellamy wasn't sure what the visits meant either but he did learn one thing of value; "There are several claims of entrapment against Kane going around camp. Kids whose parents work in engineering, farm station, Mecca station. They are the types of kids who would have useful skills on the Earth. Like your boyfriend."

"He is not my boyfriend" Clarke made sure to emphasize her point with a shove to Bellamy's arm. "So you are saying that Kane set out to arrest kids as some sort of attempt to help us survive?"

"I don't know, all I can say is that he was very heavy handed in his arrest tactics and there is a lot of animosity towards him right now."

Clarke filed that away before pressing on to the other last minute visitors. "My mother served with Solomon on the council. She resigned when her husband, the former Chancellor, became ill. Why would she be visiting anybody?"

Bellamy could tell that was a rhetorical question but it was still a big enough question to shift his suspicions from Kane to Solomon.

Both became lost in their own thoughts and the walk to the orchard went by quickly.

"Wow" Clarke had stopped walking, her hand reached out to hold back Bellamy as well. Before them the taller trees thinned out as the ground sloped downwards and hundreds of fruit trees stretched out in rows.

The rest of the group slowly filed in behind the pair. It was a beautiful sight, but survival requires action. "Fan out" Bellamy order. The others ran excitedly into the grove of trees and quickly began filling their containers.

Bellamy took a moment to ensure that the small group who had come to keep watch were being vigilant before moving on to fill his own makeshift sack.

He had only meant to check on Clarke's progress. A quick glance like he had given everyone else. But his eyes snagged on a sliver of white skin exposed on the girl's slender torso as she stretched for an apple.

His hand went out for an apple in the tree in front of him but he couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from Clarke. Her apple was still too high to reach properly so she went up on the tips of her toes. His eyes were drawn downwards by the motion. He took in the outline of her calves, her thighs, her butt. His mouth went dry and he blindly reached into the tree again. Clarke's hand finally wrapped around the apple and he licked his dry lips as her back arched to pull the apple free.

He wasn't even aware he had been staring until she moved out of his direct line of sight. He looked into his satchel and saw it was full of leaves and mealy apples. Glancing around to make sure no one had seen his stupor; he dumped the bag at the base of a tree and began picking ripe apples as quickly as possible.

He ran through his list again, this time making a needed addition: Don't let Octavia get hurt. Don't let people in the camp die. Don't get caught by the Ark. Don't stare at Clarke.

But Clarke could never be far from his mind it seems. "Bellamy! Come see this!" He heard her shout.

He followed the sound of Clarke's voice further into the grove of trees. He couldn't find her though. "Bellamy!" she called again, her voice was pitched a little higher- excitement maybe?

Curiosity pushed him forward until the trees began to thin out and a small grouping of structures came into sight. Nestled in an overgrowth of trees and vines sat two dilapidated wooden buildings and metal shed roughly the size of the 2nd floor of the drop ship. The shed looked to be in decent shape. Clarke had found a standing structure!


	5. Chapter 5

Octavia glanced over her shoulder at the tall sloping hill and large evergreens bordering the orchard. Each ripe apple she found took her farther from the others and closer to freedom. Her body hummed with the anticipation of open spaces without any walls or limits. With enough trees now blocking her from sight, she made a mad dash for the woods.

Her feet slipped on small rocks and debris as the ground sloped sharply upwards, but her pace didn't slow until she reached the top of the hill and could look out across the wide forest.

It was beautiful. Octavia wondered if anyone else from the Ark longed to explore the Earth as much as she did. If only fear didn't hold them back. Octavia saw a large outcropping of rocks further up to her right and decided they were close enough that she could venture out and climb them and still have enough time to get back before she was missed. The rocks started off small and flat but steadily gained in size and volume as the ground swelled upward.

She was careful to watch her footing while making her way across the smaller stones. An odd movement in the shadows gave her pause. She took a small step forward to investigate but stopped dead when she heard an odd buzzing sound.

A rope like body of brown and black darted deeper into the cracks before coiling itself once it had nowhere else to go. The odd sound she was hearing was the rattle on its tail.

This was the second snake she had encountered here on earth and knew instinctively that though it was smaller, it was still dangerous. Carefully she moved herself away from the creature with slow sliding steps. Then another buzzing sound reached her ears. The rock crevices were filled with slithering bodies and tight coils. She didn't know it, but snakes tend to gather there to keep each other warm in the colder weather.

Octavia's heart was pounding in her ears and instead of retreating the way she had came, her panic stricken body refused to leave the relative safety of the long narrow rock she was standing on.

Her eyes darted from side to side as she shuffled backwards into a rough warm surface. The boulder flush against her back prevented any further movement and her mind began to race even more erratically; How fast are snakes? Would they chase her? Are the venomous?

It took a moment to register the hand stretching down from the rock behind her. She noted the darkened skin, the rough fur and thin leather straps twisted around the forearms, but mostly she saw the telltale sign that this hand was not from one of her own. Geometric designs stretched down the inside of the wrist like spear points. She recognized that hand.

Perched above her was the grounder who had tended to her the other night. Apparently he has decided to make a habit out of rescuing young girls who have fallen from the sky.

Without a second thought she latched onto his arm and was pulled to safety. The man was still dressed in dark green and brown clothing but this time the odd face mask was missing. There were no dark smudges under his eyes, and the look he gave her was slightly less guarded than before. He looked very human and very handsome.

Octavia realized with a start that as she had been studying the man before her, he was also taking the opportunity to consider her. Almost in unison they looked down at their still joined hands before dropping them and taking a step back.

"Thank you" Octavia ventured.

The man neither blinked nor spoke. She tried again. "You saved my life and now I am saying 'thank you.' Most people take this as an opportunity to say you're welcome."

The man stared at her for a long moment as if weighing some deep seated ramifications against the urge to speak to her. Or maybe he just didn't speak English?

Octavia smiled up at him, deliberately catching his eye. "That's twice now. In some older earth cultures this would make you responsible for me." She used a tone she had found that most boys had trouble ignoring.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "The Massasauga rarely bite people, and then only if provoked. And your life was not threatened before" His voice was soft and low.

"So you do talk!" Octavia clapped her hands in excitement. She opened her mouth to ask him one of the thousand questions burning on her lips but he cut her off.

"Won't your people be looking for you?" He pointed in the direction from where she had come.

Octavia wondered if he had been watching her group this whole time. He probably had an excellent vantage point from where they stood. She took a moment to scan the man's face but it was as unchanging as the rocks around him. Somehow that only seemed to add to his attractiveness. She let her eyes travel down his neck and across his muscled shoulders before finally following his arm out to the tip of his finger. Only then did she turn to see where he had been pointing.

The orchard Octavia had left behind was nestled in the valley of two hills. Her eyes moved east to west as the apple trees thinned out and vegetation took over. There was a mix of colors all tangled together and clamoring over dilapidated buildings. Octavia looked back at the man in surprise. She hadn't seen any signs of the earth's former occupants before now.

He motioned with his head further right and back towards the valley.

Octavia shifted away from the grounder and saw progressively smaller stones leading back down the hill. And away from the snakes. It looked as if they may have even have been stairs at some point in the past. Further out she saw Bellamy and Clarke pushing their way through the undergrowth to a fully intact looking building.

She turned back to ask if that was safe but the man was already gone.

Octavia decided that must be her signal to go back.

Bellamy had not yet noticed his sister was missing; he was too busy trying to find a way into the small metal building. The vegetation grew thickest near the building and it was hard to find even footing.

Clarke bent low to the ground to study one plant more carefully. "I think this was a farm, before the war." She fingered the plant in front of her turning the leaves over and tugging at the roots. "Look" she said. "It's a potato."

Bellamy stepped closer to a strange plant with large yellowish orange fruit attached to its crawling vines. He picked one up to weigh between his hands. He traced his fingers along deep ridges hedged with green. The color was mostly right, the shape was pretty close… "This one here must be a pumpkin" he concluded.

Clarke's face lit up in wonder and she made her way over to look for herself. "They are different from the pictures." She glanced up into Bellamy's face "less perfect."

She seemed oddly pleased by that and Bellamy couldn't hold back an answering smile.

"It's food. I'll send people back with Monty to gather it in the morning." He placed the pumpkin back on the ground. "Maybe we can plant some in the camp."

Clarke nodded in agreement and continued to carefully make her way through the overgrown garden.

Bellamy's longer legs were managing the underbrush more easily than Clarke's and he found himself reaching back to offer a needed hand more than once.

They rounded the building looking for the door and found the entire north wall covered by some sort of flowering plant. Clarke breathed in deeply unconsciously savoring the new scent greeting her nose. It wasn't forest, meat, latrine, moonshine, unwashed bodies, or sage. And except for that last one she had yet to categorize any of those smells as pleasant. The air, the day even, felt lighter from the soft sweet fragrance filling her nose.

Delicate, soft pink flowers spilled out wherever they could from the climbing plant.

Clarke tilted her head trying to put the right name to it. "It must be a rose bush."

The way Bellamy's eyebrows went up in surprise showed he also recognized the name but had never seen it before either. He bent low towards a grouping of flowers, his nostrils dangerously close to making contact, but was stopped by the rather incredulous tone from Clarke when she asked what in the seven skies he was doing.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you to stop and smell the roses before?" he asked.

Clarke was unsure why it was important to smell a flower or what that had to do with finding the entrance to the building. Her brows furrowed and she allowed a very inarticulate 'uh?' to push past her lips.

"Old earth saying" he explained with a shrug and bent towards the flower again. "I'll do the honors"

His eyes half closed as he took in a deep breath through his nose. His eyes watered, his nose scrunched, and a bone rattling sneeze shook the entire valley.

It was not a pleasant sensation. And it was most definitely not worth stopping for.

A small laugh tittered at his side before steadily growing into full blown hysterics. He turned his head to see a crown of blonde hair. She was actually doubled over from laughing so hard! Annoyance urged him to just walk away, but he had never heard Clarke laugh so freely or fully before and felt inexplicably rooted to the spot.

"I think you are allergic" she said between giggles. "No more stop and smell for you I'm afraid."

Her eyes had gone from soft amusement to an outright teasing glint. He felt oddly defensive. How could such a pleasant sound be so annoying?

His mind drew an instant parallel to the flowers before him. He pressed his lips together to try and hold in the smile but Clarke had already sensed he was laughing back at her.

"What?" She was standing a little straighter, challenging him. His smile only grew.

She swiped the back of her hand across her chin and mouth. "Is there something on my face again?"

He pressed his tongue into the side of his cheek to keep back his laughter. She raised her eyebrows and smiled encouragingly. He rolled his eyes at this but her tactic worked. He carefully pulled free a rose and held it out to her

"Meet your match Princess" he said. "It is irritating, full of thorns, and far more tenacious than its good looks lead you to believe."

His eyes darted back to her face and he held his breath. He hadn't meant to say _"good" looks_. She just smiled and shook her head in mock irritation and accepted the flower still held in mid air.

"Couldn't you have just said I'm annoying_ sometimes_, but also pretty and smell nice?"

"The thought never crossed my mind" he breezed back.

Except she is pretty; and she still manages to smell nice unlike others in the camp who leave him burning sage in his tent for hours to cover the smell.

Her mind was focused almost instantly back to the business at hand.

"Thanks, but we should go explore the house now."

He let the air slowly drain from his lungs before turning to follow her around the side of the house. He decided to follow Clarke's lead and just ignore things like roses…. and talking with girls about flowers.

They finally came to an entrance at the back of the building. Clarke pushed through the double doors and walked back in time. A thick layer of dust permeated the air. She dared not impose on the scene. She felt Bellamy step in close behind her and stop as well.

Light filtered in through the dirty Plexiglas window to the left. The wall below it was lined with a work bench and scattered tools. Axes, saws and other cutting paraphernalia hung neatly on the far wall. The right wall was covered by floor to ceiling shelving. Clarke followed the shelves up to the roof where there were no signs of damage. The inside had managed to stay safe from the elements.

Bellamy's voice drifted over her shoulder "Something is wrong"

Clarke had been thinking the exact opposite. Her mind was whirling with all the things they could do with the supplies before her. She looked up at him in confusion.

His hand reached out to run a finger along the edge of a shelf. "No one has been here in years."

Clarke thought of the bunker Finn had found. "Why is that a problem?"

Bellamy wiped his dirt covered finger on the back of his pants and took one cautious step further into the building. "We find this place within a month, but other people have been here for years and never touched it?'

Clarke took in her surroundings again with a different light. The tools were not just scattered on the table, they were evenly spread around an empty area as if someone had been working on something there long ago. The last person here had been working not scavenging.

"Someone belonged here once but no one has been here for years" Bellamy voiced what they both were thinking. Someone, anyone, should have found this place long ago.

"The apples? the vegetables?" he continued, "all untouched. Why?"

A terrifying thought hit Clarke. "Radiation! They would leave it alone if it was only going to make them sick."

For one horrifying moment Bellamy pictured the entire camp dying of radiation poisoning. All from food he had told them was safe. He breathed in deeply through the nose and reminded himself everyone hadn't eaten the apples-_ yet._

Clarke moved towards the work table again. She felt certain there was something important about those tools. They looked no different from the hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers on the Ark. A mismatch of whatever could be found, some in better shape than others.

Except they were all hand tools. Clarke's head began to move in jagged hops as her eyes searched desperately for the things that were not there.

Bellamy had gone into full containment mode listing off his plans...some out loud and some in his head. "We will throw out the apples, _Monitor everyone closely for sickness, _eat only food that comes from close to the grounders territory, _Clearly they're fine_, everyone who was here today should wash thoroughly, _does that even make a difference?, _and"

Clarke stepped in front of Bellamy; the expression on her face gave him pause. She looked like the kid who had just gotten an A on a math test for the first time ever- sheer wonder at her own brilliance. "There are no electronics!"

No she was the kid who talked to herself at lunch. He rolled his eyes but reminded himself to be patient and gave her a curious look.

"The tools have been scavenged," Her eyes circled the room once more and she had to speak through her smile. "No electronics, no pictures. You can't tell me this building stayed in such good shape with no maintenance for 100 years?" She paused to look him deep in the eyes and make sure he was fully listening. "Whoever was here, it had to have been after the war."

Bellamy own eyes widened in understanding. He added to her observations all the things he had been noticing in the woods around the camp. "The grounders have stayed mainly southeast of us. It is possible that there are other survivors- other factions of people living here on the ground."

Clarke bit her lip. If this was true than earth wasn't just survivorable, it was inhabitable. "We should find them!" She reached out and squeezed Bellay's arms in excitement and he looked down at her small hand as if its presence there had some hidden meaning. Normally she would poke his chest or push his shoulder to make her point.

"No, we wait at the camp for reinforcement from the Ark."

Clarke slid her hand away at his response and crossed her arms.

"We don't know how long that is going to take!" Clarke realized her tone was probably too condescending when Bellamy mirrored her own motions to stand with both his arms crossed-eyes spitting fire. She had put him on the defensive without meaning to.

Deciding to soften her approach, she tried again. "You are right about needing backup, but if we can find people already down here who are willing to help us-"

Bellamy didn't even let her finish that thought "Help us? Princess why do you think the grounders have traps, trained fighters, and projectile weapons? They were at war here. It may be in our best interest to not find out with who!"

Clarke had been keeping her hands at her sides in a conscious effort to be diplomatic but his tone and posture had just been so damn...patronizing! She didn't even notice her hands fisting into balls and resting on her hips until they were already there. "You don't even want us talking to the Ark and now you are ready for the guard to come down and take over? How's that going to end for you?"

Her tone had been caustic, but her words didn't even make him flinch. "You're the one who cut off communication with _your people_. They might hate me, but at least they'll come down to a living, breathing population, not a camp full of massacred teens that were too dumb to stay put!"

He couldn't believe how naive she was being. Instead of shoot first, ask questions later, she wanted to be shot first and let other question what happened.

"They are _our people_," she said to make sure he knew he was part of the group. "There are two thousand of them. We aren't exactly going to fit in the tiny amount of land the grounders haven't -as yet decided belongs to them. We can't just do nothing! Without supplies, we won't make it through the winter anyway!"

Bellamy was shaking his head from side to side. His arms were still crossed over his chest and he looked utterly unyielding. There was however that small flicker of uncertainty in his eyes that he always got when they disagreed on something.

"Finn has been scouting these woods for months. He could have seen boundary markers or signs of life" She tried for a compromise; they could at least look for other people besides the deadly and evasive grounders they had already met.

Bellamy looked out the door into the distance considering what he already knew of the grounder's borders. There was a somewhat jagged line of traps running south to the river. They were thick enough and long enough to have been in place long before the drop ship landed. The grounders were clearly trying to keep something- or someone- out. He glanced back at Clarke. Her chin was still tilted in the impossibly stubborn way she had. She was right; Finn had been out and about enough to know the extent of the borders, and the traps. Let him tell her what he saw and maybe then she can draw her own, more reasonable, conclusions about the safety of her plan. Then, when she isn't being such a royal pain in the ass, they could talk about their neighbors again.

"Let's see what the tracker knows, maybe we can start mapping out the area." Bellamy turned and grabbed a tree saw from of the wall. "But right now, we need to start making shelter for winter. Remember anything about the early American pioneers?" He raised an eyebrow at her wondering if his diversion would work. "This time we make log cabins, not tents."

Clarke had deflated slightly at her easy victory. Then again, Bellamy hadn't actually agreed to her plan. He just stopped saying "No." And he was right about the shelters. With the tools here in the shed they could make viable housing from the plentiful trees in the forest. She knew better than to push her point but wasn't ready to fully concede either. "We have to have some faith that there can be peace."

Her tone was so unabashedly optimistic he didn't have the heart to contradict her "We will need every person available to build enough shelters before winter hits. We can't spare anyone for diplomatic missions right now."

Clarke sensed this was his way putting her off the subject again. She also knew he was right about building the shelters so she took a deep breath and let the matter drop.

"Fine, but on the way back we discuss how we are going to handle the Ark"

Bellamy stifled a grown. It was just one thing after another with her.

Over an hour later and Bellamy was still looking at Clarke with frustration. Her ideas for how he should talk to Jaha were surprisingly well thought out. The plan was logical and allowed them to operate from a position of power.

His frustration had come to focus entirely on the satchel slung over Clarke's arm. It has been slipping off her shoulder almost the entire walk now. It was a game at first, how long would it rest on her shoulder before quickly slipping into the crook of her elbow. Each time the strap would slide, Clarke would huff and re-adjust, it would then only stay for a few minutes before beginning to slide again. An hour in and the game had lost its fun- Why does she keep putting it back in the exact same spot when she knows it's going to fall?

Finally he couldn't take it anymore; he reached over and took it away from her. She gave him a rather incredulous looks but the scowl on his face was enough for her to just let him carry it.

She didn't mind the missing weight or the crumpled scowl on Bellamy's brow. They had a plan for the Ark, for winter, and for mapping their surroundings. Clarke's mission focused heart was well at ease.


End file.
